TPM Editor’s Blog

Thune Stacking Basis

I’ve learned that it’s important to speak to people in their own language. And earlier today, as you’ve seen, I noted Sen. Thune’s explanation of the problems with the president’s Stimulus Bill judged on the basis of how high the number of dollars would be if you stacked them on top of each other. (Thune pegs the dollar number at $1 trillion by adding the estimated interest on the borrowed dollars over time.)

So what we’ve done here is do an apples to apples comparison of current unemployment numbers to the stimulus spending number using the Thune Stacking Formula as a basis of comparison. Here we have dollars stacked on top of each other versus current number of unemployed Americans stacked on top of each other.

Honestly, I’m not sure I yet understand the logic of stacking as a point of comparison. But this is my effort to reach out and work in a bipartisan framework.

thune-stacking-blog.jpg

Late Update: This post inspired by an email from TPM Reader JD.

Josh Marshall

Josh Marshall is editor and publisher of TalkingPointsMemo.com.

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